So, what exactly is "Spice" and "Natural Flavoring"? I've read they can put MSG into a product and call it "Natural Flavoring". Any time I see "Flavor" or "Spice" or "Autolyzed Yeast" I tend to put it back on the shelf.

I've never understood the American obsession with ketchup. It's nice on french fries but that's about it.

In Baltimore they often put gravy on their fries..

"Want gravy on that hon ?"

While the Belgians prefer them smothered in mayonnaise. And they should know!

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'Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against stupid. That might actually make a difference.'~Harry Dresden

To answer the question about why Americans eat so much Ketchup, I have a theory.

When you remove fat from food it tastes like cardboard. It's the fat that carries taste. The easiest way to make the low fat food palatable again is to make it sweet. That is really what Ketchup does for the most part. It sweetens up the food.

Fries used to be deep fried in natural oils rich in saturated fats. That has changed and now they are often fried in low fat vegetable oils... They dont taste as good now so adding Ketchup which is very sweet fills the gap.

I needed Ketchup on everything. I was famous in my family for using Ketchup. But now that I make sure I add lots of fat, food is very palatable and more satiating, so I have finally broken my Ketchup Jones.

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

It's a closely guarded secret. Believe it or not, in war time, when a soldier wants to know if someone they meet is truly an American, they ask them why Americans love ketchup so much. True fact! (not true)

Honestly, i prefer my fries neat - just sprinkled with salt or that other staple Greek flavouring, oregano. There is just one place, a cafe in town, that makes the most amazing spicy wedges, which simply beg to be dipped in mayo, overcoming even my regular pick of BBQ sauce.

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'Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against stupid. That might actually make a difference.'~Harry Dresden

Breaking my ketchup habit was harder than breaking several other addictions that may not have been altogether legal..

At the Tastee Diner they would just bring it over without me asking..

I found that I couldnt get into a ketogenic mode ( fat burning ) if I used ketchup no matter how low carb I was with other foods. There is simply too much sugar in it. And homemade?? I think not.

Now I put butter or everything, especially meat and then use mayo... The more fat the better the taste and it trumps the sugar rush from the Ketchup.

The good thing about ketchup, though, is that, unlike you, one can put a lid on ketchup.

The current tone and content of this thread has been both civil and informative. It would be a shame for you to derail it purposefully into something less .

Marc, do try to get over yourself. Do you really think anyone here takes you seriously when you put yourself forward as an authority on how "unhealthy" ketchup is, and on a thread that's really been nothing more than an idle pastime for most of us? Maybe, then, you should try not to take yourself so seriously.

Directions:Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. No cooking required!Add lukewarm water by the teaspoon to reach the consistency you crave.

Now - please tell me - what exactly about that combination of ingredients is so horrible that consuming it constitutes an "addiction" that must be broken?

If it's not Heinz then it's not Ketchup , number one.

The Ketchup bottle I just looked at has High Fructose Corn Syrup as ingredient #3. "Tomato's from concentrate, Vinegar, HFCS". Your recipe appear to have more sugar as it appears number 2 but you may not list in order of amounts..

Sweetening home made ketchup with sugar in the form of maple syrup or agave makes no difference. Sugar is sugar is sugar. High Fructose Corn Syrup is just cheaper for the Food Industry to use. Maple syrup or corn syrup or table sugar spikes your insulin just the same.

Our food supply has been sweetened to a fair the well as a replacement for the fat that has been taken out of it. HFCS is in literally everything and it is driving the Obesity epidemic.. So in general, the idea is to get back to full fat food, get our taste back for that , and try to stop eating a sugared up high carb diet.

« Last Edit: February 01, 2013, 07:57:07 PM by Marc1152 »

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

To answer the question about why Americans eat so much Ketchup, I have a theory.

When you remove fat from food it tastes like cardboard. It's the fat that carries taste. The easiest way to make the low fat food palatable again is to make it sweet.

The All American fat free food: french fries.

marc, does anyone on this board other than the thankfully long not heard from JimfromBrooklynMoscowtheSouthMidwestPlusManyOtherPlacesIVactioned agree with much of what you say in this subject?

Yes, there have been two or three people over the time that the thread has been up who eat Paleo and/or Weston Price.. If you read back you will find their posts...What's your point? Maybe you can start a popularity contest/ Food thread

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

No, I called him a dentist, and said that dentists can sometimes promote crackpot theories. See the difference there? ;-)

Oh okay.. fine

Then my reply to you was that his idea's and observations have held up under scrutiny but the theories of the Bio-Chemist Ansel Keys, a central figure in establishment Nutritional idea's, have turned out to be fraudulent..

Draw your own conclusions.

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

So you made an interesting suggestion that I want to talk about. You suggested that you simply substitute Maple Syrup or Agave for sugar in Ketchup and that would make it healthier.

Sugar is toxic. All types of sugar, from a cane or a beet or a tree or a plant are exactly the same. There is no good sugar. In fact the High Fructose Corn Syrup industry has spent millions of dollars on commercials that tell you HFCS is exactly the same as table sugar.. Agreed. It is . They are both toxic in the amounts found it our current diets.

All sugar spikes insulin. The theory is that this constantly high level of insulin most people have is the central villain in obesity and other related illnesses.

When sugar appears in nature it is always wrapped around lot of fiber. When sugar is consumed along with lots of fiber it does not enter the blood stream as fast and you dont get the immediate mega hit of insulin. Sugar cane is a great example. Its a woody stalk and would take you days to get to the sweetness by chewing on it.

Also, we have evolved to recognize sweetness in food as a signal that a food is not poisonous. Nothing is nature that tastes sweet is poisonous to humans. Therefore, we have evolved to recognize sweet things as good (edible). It sets off bells in our brain and nervous system that are pleasurable. Sugar hits the same pleasure spot in the brain as cocaine. If you dont beleive it, try stopping. You will go through symptoms of withdraw.

Here is a lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig (not a Dentist, he is an endocrinologist , "Sugar, the Bitter Truth" His book by the same name will be out shortly. He is the best known researcher on the topic. This lecture is meant for laypeople. He's a good speaker

Pretty much everything is "toxic" in some sense, even something as common and essential as water. The catch is how much you can have before it starts harming you.

I agree, And that's the point. The decision was made to reduce our intake of animal fats based on shockingly poor science. Food tastes like crap without fat.Therefore, the food supply was sugared up. This was made possible by the invention of High Fructose Corn Syrup which is a very cheap form of sugar that was put into literally everything.. Waste lines expanded. We suffered from the lack of animal fat in our diets, obesity becomes an epidemic.

Add to that the high consumption of Wheat ( also bad for you...sorry) and we have created a full blown health crises. A single slice of whole wheat bread spikes you insulin higher and faster than three tablespoons of sugar.

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

I had some really good ice cream at the superbowl party last night... Ice Cream tastes very sweet to me when I only eat it once in a long while. Your tastes change according to what you eat regularly I think. So a problem may come in when you hit the sugar pleasure spot over and over and over and over. Free country.. You can do you own cost benefit thingy..Personally, I wish to avoid health problems later on ( "later on is starting to mean right now").

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

I'm a fan of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food, myself. The marshmallows are sweet enough to make sure I don't go through the whole tub in one sitting.

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'Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against stupid. That might actually make a difference.'~Harry Dresden